Newhaven pub thanks customers for ‘overwhelming amount of support’ after Covid-19 scare

A pub in Newhaven had to temporarily shut due to a Covid-19 scare.
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In a post on Facebook last Thursday (August 13), The Jolly Boatman said it had a customer with a suspected case of covid on the premises – and as a precaution it had made the decision to temporarily close.

A spokesman for the pub in Lewes Road said: “We’ve had a customer with a suspected case of covid on the premises and as a precaution we have shut the pub for a professional deep clean today and had all the staff tested.

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“We have contacted all the people in and around the time of the suspected case, and they have also been tested.

The Jolly Boatman in Newhaven. Picture: Google Street ViewThe Jolly Boatman in Newhaven. Picture: Google Street View
The Jolly Boatman in Newhaven. Picture: Google Street View

“We have not been advised to shut by the NHS, but we feel for the safety of our customers we should wait until the pub is deep cleaned and we know the results of the staff before we reopen.

“There’s obviously a lot of worry and panic, which isn’t being helped by people speculating and scaremongering about it.

“The facts as they stand is, no one has any symptoms. Everyone has been contacted and has been tested or in the process of being tested.

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“There is one suspect case. That is all. If you have not been contacted by us now, you haven’t been in contact with this person.”

On Friday (August 14), the pub confirmed all staff test results had come back negative and members of the social bubble group had come back negative so far.

The pub reopened to customers at 10am that day, but asked those still awaiting test results to not come in.

A spokesman said: “We urge everyone to remain calm and not to listen to the scaremongering.

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“We were not forced to close, we were told we didn’t have to, but we made the decision for the safety and wellbeing of our customers to close at cost to us.

“We also made the decision to have the pub professionally deep cleaned again at cost to us, for the safety of you guys, as that is what comes first.

“This goes to show that the procedures we have put in place do work, and we should continue to take them seriously.

“Wash your hands with the sanitizers we’ve provided, stay within your group, keep your distance from others, stay alert at all times, and no standing at the bar.”

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The pub thanked everyone for the ‘overwhelming amount of support’, adding: “We really didn’t expect it.”

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